Guber Poll: Kwara PDP Protests, Seeks Level Playing Ground

Police Commissioner warns against violence

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

Ahead of tomorrow’s governorship and state house of assembly elections in Kwara state,  youths of the  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday staged a peaceful protest to the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), Adewole, Ilorin in order to ensure a free and fair poll.

This is just as  the Kwara state Police Commissioner, Mr. Paul Odama,  warned criminal elements and political thugs  in the state to shelve any plan to cause any breakdown of law and order before, during, and after the   election.

The protest, according to THISDAY checks, might not be unconnected with the alleged involvement of the INEC in the state during the February 25 poll.

The protest  was later joined by the party’s governorship candidate, Alhaji Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi .

Addressing journalists at the INEC office, Ilorin, the PDP governorship candidate, Abdullahi   raised concerns that the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) had reduced the state democracy to that of pecuniary gains. 

He alleged that the APC had perfected plans to ‘intimidate’  voters on election day through vote-buying with N10,000 for each prospective voters at the polling units .

Abdullahi, however,  vowed that the opposition PDP would  “brake the trajectory of poverty in the state”.

He said: “What we are doing today is to  save guard our democracy. Kwara democracy has been replaced by money democracy. Vote-buying because they (APC) have nothing to show than to bamboozle people on election day and give them stipends, N10,000. We are going to break it, we will make sure that the trajectory of poverty is broken “, he said.

He advised the party agents to be more vigilant and protect their votes from the polling units to local government and state’s collation centres to ensure that the figures recorded and transmitted are the same.

“Our agents must not allow anybody to canvass for votes at the polling units. They must endure and to go to the collation centre and ensure that election results transmitted at the polling units are not different from ones recorded and transmitted at the collation centres.”

Also speaking, comrade Musbau Esinrogunjo and PDP youth leader , Abdulamid Adangaba, regretted that there were lots of manipulations in the February 25th presidential elections in the state, urging INEC to ensure a credible process this coming Saturday.

“There was lot of manipulation in last elections in Kwara. We are here  to register our grievances, INEC should give us free and fair election on Saturday,” he Esinrogunjo said.

Meanwhile, Kwara State CP has  warned criminal elements and political thugs  in the state to shelve any plan to cause any breakdown of law and order before, during, and after the  Saturday’s election.

Speaking in Ilorin yesterday  on the level of preparations of the men of the state police command ahead ofpoll, Odama said: “Any person found in one way or another trying to undermine the resolve of the command to secure the process and conduct of the exercise would be met with the full wrath of the law.”

He stated: “The citizens are advised to obey all relevant laws as they may be announced by the authorities, including any restrictions on vehicular movements on the day of the election.

Odama assured the people of the  state of the preparation and readiness of the security agencies in the state to ensure that the forthcoming poll  is conducted in a peaceful and acceptable manner across the state.

He noted that the heads of security agencies would synergise together in order to ensure a hutch free election in the state.

In achieving that, Odama said:”We met recently and resolved that all the agencies would work in synergy as they always do to provide adequate security that would make the elections credible, peaceful and acceptable.”

He, however, lauded the gesture of the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali  Baba  for supplying the command with all necessary equipment, which include Pump Acti